unimportant
/ŭn″ĭm-pôr′tnt/
adjective
- not important the question seems unimportant
- devoid of importance, meaning, or force
They mean exactly the same thing. I guess "not important" is a little less formal, but it's okay to use either in any context Answer from sazzle301 on hinative.com
Merriam-Webster
merriam-webster.com › dictionary › unimportant
UNIMPORTANT Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
2 weeks ago - The meaning of UNIMPORTANT is lacking in importance : not important : minor, trivial. How to use unimportant in a sentence.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/nostupidquestions › why do we use “unimportant”, and not “portant”?
r/NoStupidQuestions on Reddit: Why do we use “unimportant”, and not “portant”?
June 23, 2019 -
Doesn’t unimportant just mean “not not portant”? And going by that rule, why don’t we say “unimpossible”, “unimmortal”, etc.?
Top answer 1 of 2
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"Important" came to English as that word. It wasn't a negative of "portant" that was added in English to make that word.
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https://www.etymonline.com/word/important The etymology of "important" is close to the roots of "import" - as in to bring something from another country. You can't separate the roots of the term & still have that meaning, so "portant" would be a meaningless term. That's not to say that there aren't examples of spliting words up like that in a way that doesn't reflect the original meaning but, generally, we try to stick to the root meanings.
un important / not important, unnecessary / not necessary | WordReference Forums
Dear friends, I'd like to know the difference between the two terms,(unimportant or not important, unnecessary or not necessary, & not useful or useless) is there a specific preference to use... More on forum.wordreference.com
word choice - Describing a person who values the unimportant while ignoring the important - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
How do you describe a person who gives the most importance to little details (of little value) while ignoring the aspects of much greater importance? It would describe one who places more importan... More on english.stackexchange.com
So importantly unimportant that it's not important...
So confusing.
More on reddit.comWhich "important" things are unimportant or unhelpful for your system?
System roles. They narrow us as people down to a very tight scientific box and I dislike that. I just call myself companion to the host. We all dislike a lot of the common words around the topic so we started making shit up. "Alters"? Na that's gang. Someone's co-conscious? wrong, someone else is awake in here. you switched? wrong, you pulled up. It may sound unprofessional or strange to others but it helps us feel less alien about it. It feels more natural and less like a big deal. -Kree More on reddit.com
Videos
Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › us › dictionary › english › unimportant
UNIMPORTANT | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
February 4, 2026 - UNIMPORTANT meaning: 1. not important: 2. not important: 3. not important: . Learn more.
WordReference
forum.wordreference.com › english only › english only
un important / not important, unnecessary / not necessary | WordReference Forums
March 26, 2022 - Welcome to WR. We can only answer one question per thread here, and we can address the first question if you give us a complete sentence in which you might say 'unimportant' or 'not important', together with some context - or what situation you might say it in.
Vocabulary.com
vocabulary.com › dictionary › unimportant
Unimportant - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms | Vocabulary.com
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘unimportant'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
Craftdeology
craftdeology.com › home › important vs unimportant
Important vs Unimportant
January 4, 2023 - Unimportant things are things that don’t really matter. A waste of time. Why waste time if you know life is short? But that’s not the real problem. One way to know if a thing is really important is to ask yourself whether you’ll care about it after a week. Would you still care about the life of that celebrity or influencer next week?
Magoosh
gre.magoosh.com › definitions › unimportant
unimportant Definition - Magoosh GRE
– Not important; not of great moment; of little account. – Not assuming or marked by airs of importance or dignity.
Wiktionary
simple.wiktionary.org › wiki › unimportant
unimportant - Simple English Wiktionary
Something unimportant is not important, it is minor or petty.
Thesaurus.com
thesaurus.com › browse › unimportant
UNIMPORTANT Synonyms & Antonyms - 86 words | Thesaurus.com
consequential important meaningful necessary relevant significant substantial useful valuable worthwhile worthy ... Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com. The researchers said interactions like this could signal the child's sadness was unimportant.
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com › us › definition › english › unimportant
unimportant adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com
They dismissed the problem as unimportant. This consideration was not unimportant.
English Forward
englishforward.com › question › unimportant-vs-not-important-1692038026
unimportant vs. not important - English Forward
February 6, 2007 - English Forward The internet's largest learn english community. Now on blockchain
Thesaurus.plus
thesaurus.plus › related › not_important › unimportant
Terms Not important and Unimportant are semantically related or have similar meaning
Unimportant adjective - Lacking importance. ... Not important and unimportant are semantically related.
Milken Institute Review
milkenreview.org › articles › the-importance-of-being-unimportant
The Importance of Being Unimportant - Milken Institute Review
January 24, 2021 - But the mechanism of variation and natural selection (later expanded with genetics) was so intuitively powerful that Darwin’s most zealous advocate, Thomas Henry Huxley, is said to have reflected after reading The Origin of Species, “How extremely stupid of me not to have thought of that.” · In Sir Hubert Henderson’s short textbook, Supply and Demand (1922), with a foreword by John Maynard Keynes himself, there is a less momentous but deeply intriguing section titled “The Importance of Being Unimportant.” It expresses the unintuitive idea that, under the right conditions, it is desirable to be a very small part of something big.
LinkedIn
linkedin.com › pulse › 20140718180308-555838-the-importance-of-finding-the-unimportant-things-in-life-and-work
The importance of finding the unimportant things in Life and Work
August 13, 2018 - Some unimportant things you cannot remove, Postpone them; it is not bad · It is true that there are things that are not important now but can become important later, items that are not strong in our current goals; items on which spending time now or later will not make a difference in our life.
Daniel Wong
daniel-wong.com › home › blog › 30 unimportant things that young people should stop worrying about
30 Things That Young People Need to Know Are NOT Important in Life
January 6, 2026 - We all spend time thinking about or doing unimportant things. It can take a lot of time and energy, and it distracts us from the things that do matter. Children and teenagers are particularly prone to this. I admit that I was definitely like this when I was younger as well! I’ve spoken to and worked with more than 20,000 students thus far. Based on my experiences and observations, I’ve come up with this list of things that young people need to realise are not important ...